NJ Wrestling: SOUTH PLAINFIELD IS NO. 1!

The route to the state's No. 1 ranking, it seems, goes through High Point. It certainly has the past two seasons, at least.

One year after Long Branch used a one-point victory over High Point to secure The Star-Ledger Top 20 Trophy, and two years after High Point won one itself, this season it was South Plainfield's turn.

South Plainfield beat High Point for the NJSIAA Group 3 title and jumped from No. 4 to No. 1, winning for the first time the coveted trophy that signifies the top team in New Jersey.

Last year, Long Branch was honored primarily because of a 28-27 victory, by criteria, over High Point, which earned the honor in 2008.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerThe No.1 South Plainfield wrestling team, shown with the plaque they were awarded for being named Williams/Finizio Team of the Year at the state tournament in Atlantic City on Sunday.The Top 20 Trophy appeared ready for delivery this season to High Point, which was No. 1 and had edged then-No. 2 Long Branch, 24-23, in an all-time epic of a dual meet on Jan. 15. All that was left to do for High Point was defeat then-No. 4 South Plainfield in the Group 3 final on Feb. 14.

But South Plainfield, fortified by a solid core of upperclassmen and benefiting from a talent-rich freshman class, had other plans that afternoon at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.

Few outside of wrestling-crazed South Plainfield believed this team was anything more than one year shy of its turn at the top. Jackson, ranked No. 3, had beaten South Plainfield, 34-20, on Jan. 16, and High Point had defeated Jackson, 36-20, on Dec. 30. What further evidence did one require?

As insightful wrestling fans know, though, there can be a big difference in a team's net worth on Feb. 14 when compared to Jan. 16.

Come Feb. 14, South Plainfield's vaunted freshmen were essentially sophomores. More importantly, those freshmen had fought through the grind of South Plainfield's rugged schedule to meld into the iron-clad team fabric to which its upperclassmen had long been accustomed.

When 145-pounder Ryan Sacco, one of the crusty old seniors in South Plainfield's lineup, took the mat with a chance to win the Group 3 championship, he simply refused to fail. Sacco, the ultimate team wrestler, won an unforgettable match, 6-5 in four overtimes, over High Point's Joe Gaccione that secured a 26-24 victory and the group championship.

South Plainfield made an unlikely leap from No. 4 to No. 1 as High Point fell to No. 2, ahead of No. 3 Long Branch, the Group 2 champion, No. 4 Jackson, the Group 4 champion, and No. 5 Hunterdon Central, the Group 4 runner-up.